10 Collector’s Items Of Modern WWE Brilliance
8. The Fight Pit
It's difficult to watch this back in the same enthusiastic, bloodthirsty spirit, but conceptually, this was a stunningly inspired departure from NXT's increasingly parodic melodrama.
This was a full and incredible subversion of that which NXT has failed so miserably over the last year. Ordinarily, WWE imposes itself on its NXT talent, materialising in much staring at hands, catchphrases masquerading as promos, and broken ankles, since the "safe company that won't allow head drops" conflated Dexter Lumis with f*cking Ricochet.
This was NXT using what two great wrestlers are great at, and sprinkling some big-time, creative production over the dynamic. Timothy Thatcher Vs. Matt Riddle in the Fight Pit was the old magic of WWE, or its embers, at least.
The structure of the Fight Pit itself was fantastic; it conveyed the requisite gritty atmosphere, but it loomed big, and unlike previous attempts at gimmicked worked shoots - like the Lion's Den it dated instantly - it was spacious enough to do a great wrestling match within.
And the match was indeed a ripper - a seamless hybrid of convincingly brutal worked shoot grapplef*ck and flamboyant WWE drama - that got Thatcher over.
A triumph.